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Microbiological processes have important roles in nearly all stages of food production. Therefore, microbiologists will be key players in making the improvements to food production that are required to feed the growing world population.
A specific nuclear PML isoform functions in the host response to infection by sequestering the viral polymerase of an RNA virus for which replication takes place in the cytoplasm.
Our monthly round up of infectious diseases news, which this month includes a vaccine against trachoma, a European filovirus and a potential infectious agent for colon cancer.
Cellular pathways can be controlled through proteolysis, which allows rapid responses to changes in the environment. However, proteolysis is irreversible, so it must be carefully regulated. Here, Ron and colleagues describe how proteolysis modifies cellular behaviour and the ways in which it is controlled.
The compatible solute dimethylsulphoniopropionate (DMSP) has important roles in the ecology and biogeochemistry of marine environments, as do some of its breakdown products. In this Review, Johnston and colleagues describe the recent advances in our understanding of the microorganisms, enzymes and genes involved in DMSP catabolism.
Viruses rely on the translation machinery of the host cell to produce the proteins that are essential for their replication. Here, Walsh and Mohr discuss the diverse strategies by which viruses subvert the host protein synthesis machinery and regulate the translation of viral mRNAs.
In filamentous fungi, actin is organized in higher-order structures (patches, rings and cables) that generate forces or serve as tracks for the intracellular transport of vesicles and organelles. Here, Read and colleagues discuss the contribution that recent live-cell imaging and mutational studies have made to our understanding of these processes.
Vaccines have saved hundreds of millions of lives and helped to eradicate several diseases. Plotkin and Plotkin describe how the design of vaccines has developed from the observation that milkmaids seemed to be protected from smallpox, to a science that incorporates microbiology, systems biology and immunology.
The increasing levels of antibiotic resistance observed in clinical isolates, coupled with a lack of new drugs coming through the development pipeline, make the problem of antibiotic resistance a global crisis. In this Essay, Davies and colleagues draw up a priority list of urgent steps and future research directions that are needed to tackle this growing problem.
